If you are interested in the federal retirement benefits available to seniors, check out the article here.

Provincial/Territorial Retirement Benefits for Seniors

Provinces and territories in Canada have programs in place to provide additional income to low-income seniors who may or may not be receiving OAS/GIS benefits. Some of these programs and available benefits include:

Manitoba

55 Plus Program

This program also known as Manitoba Income Supplement, provides quarterly benefits to eligible low-income individuals who are 55 years of age or older. Current maximum quarterly benefits are $161.80 (single individual) and $347.80 (couples).

For more information on Manitoba’s 55 Plus program, call them at 204-945-2197 or 1-877-587-6224, or by email at [email protected].

British Columbia

Senior’s Supplement Program

This is a monthly benefit paid to low-income seniors who are recipients of OAS/GIS, or who receive an Allowance. The amount received is based on how much you already get in federal benefits. Currently, you could get up to a maximum of $49.30 (single senior), $120.50 (couples), or $49.83 (spouse receiving an Allowance).

If you need more information regarding British Columbia’s Senior Supplement Program, contact them at 1-866-866-0800 or email at [email protected].

Alberta

Seniors Benefit Program

This is a monthly benefit paid to low-income seniors in order to supplement their OAS/GIS pension. Currently, single seniors with a total annual income of $27,300 or less, and couples who have a combined annual income of $44,335 or less are eligible for the benefit.

For more information on Alberta’s Seniors Benefit program, contact them at 1-877-644-9992 or 780-644-9992.

Saskatchewan

Seniors Income Plan (SIP)

This is a monthly benefit paid to seniors whose annual income are below the specified threshold. The current maximum benefit per month is $270.

For more information on Saskatchewan’s Seniors Income Plan, call them at 306-787-2681 or 1-800-667-7161.

Ontario

Guaranteed Annual Income System (GAINS)

This is a monthly benefit for low-income seniors. The amount is updated every quarter to account for inflation and current maximum monthly payment is $83.

For more details on Ontario’s GAINS program, call 1-800-277-9914.

New Brunswick

Low-Income Seniors Benefit

This is an annual benefit paid to eligible low-income seniors. Currently, the benefit is $400 per year. Senior couples who live together and who both receive the GIS, are eligible for only one $400 benefit.

For more information on New Brunswick’s Low-Income Seniors Benefit, call 1-800-277-9914 (English) or 1-800-277-9915 (French).

Newfoundland and Labrador

Seniors’ Benefit

This benefit is paid to low-income seniors. The maximum annual benefit is $1,313, and the recipient must be 65 years old in the year they start receiving the benefit.

For more details on NL’s Seniors’ benefit, call 709-729-3166 or email them at [email protected].

Nunavut

Senior Citizen Supplementary Benefit (SCSB)

This is a monthly benefit paid to low-income seniors in Nunavut who are 60 years of age or older and receive the GIS or Allowance. The current monthly payment is $175.

Northwest Territories

Senior Citizen Supplementary Benefit (SCSB)

This is a monthly benefit to low-income seniors who receive GIS benefits. The current monthly benefit is $196 per month.

For more information on NWT’s SCSB program, call 867-767-9355.

Yukon

Seniors Income Supplement

This is a monthly benefit to low-income seniors who receive OAS/GIS benefits and are 65 years of age or older. The current maximum monthly benefit is $253.25 per month.

For more info on Yukon’s Seniors Income Supplement program, call 867-667-5674 or 1-800-661-0408 ext. 5674.

Employment and Income Assistance

In addition to the different seniors’ benefits provided by Canadian provinces and territories, there are also provisions to assist seniors who have no other source of income, are unable to pay for basic necessities, and who may not be eligible for government retirement benefits such as OAS/GIS.

Depending on the province/territory, these benefits may be referred to using different names such as Income Assistance, Hardship Assistance, Social Assistance, etc.

Other benefits that are available to seniors include: discounted bus pass programs, GST/HST credits, housing programs, and more. To search for health and income programs available across Canada, use the Benefits Finder located at CanadaBenefits.gc.ca.

4 Comments

AnneB on June 27, 2018 at 6:17 AM

Hi Enoch, I’ve recently discovered your Blog and find it well tailored to Canadians. I would have enjoyed reading on Quebec’s services for seniors. Will you cover it in a future part II? Cordially, Anne

Thank you for your kind words and I hope you keep reading! 😉 I actually considered Quebec when writing this piece – I just couldn’t find any specific Quebec program for seniors outside of the general federal government benefits i.e. CPP/QPP, OAS/GIS, and GST/HST tax credits. This was the same with PEI as well as Nova Scotia where the only listed benefits (additional) are the generalized employment and income assistance programs.

These steps have been on my mind since my parents both recently retired. What’s been interesting is that since they retired we have been talking about money more openly. It’s somehow been less taboo to talk about since they stopped working.

@Curious Frugal: Interesting observation. I wonder what makes money-topics less of a taboo now that they have left the workforce. However, I think my parents were the same. In my case, I assumed it was because they felt I had a good grasp about the concept of money and the days of me being “naive and flippant” about finances were far behind.